More

Monarch Joint Venture: Plant Milkweed To Save The Butterfly

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Experts said Monarch butterfly numbers are dropping dangerously low, but there’s an easy way you can help.

Monday on the WCCO This Morning show, Edward Moody showed us why making room in your garden is critical to saving the Monarch. The St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota has a garden specifically catered to pollenating and helping the Monarch butterfly.

Katie Lyn Bunney with the University of Minnesota Monarch Lab said the facility is a partnership with Monarch Joint Venture. It’s a grouping of federal and state non-government agencies all throughout the country focusing on the preservation efforts for the Monarch butterfly.

The biggest thing you can do in your garden to help preserve the butterfly is plant milkweed. Bunney said you can start small and grow as you see fit.

“People are a little nervous with milkweed because it can spread if you don’t watch it,” Bunney said. “It’s also a native plant and it’s the only thing Monarch’s eat so it’s an important species.